In this 66th episode of the Philosophy Bakes Bread radio show and podcast, Eric Thomas Weber and Anthony Cashio had the pleasure to talk with self-taught philosopher John Altmann (a.k.a. Adrian Alba), who has been engaging in independent philosophical scholarship since 2010. We talk with John about “Disability and Popular Culture.”
John is a regular contributor to the Popular Culture and Philosophy book series. He is a member of the European Network of Japanese Philosophy. He is also a field editor for the Public Philosophy Journal. John is an active public thinker also in his writings on Facebook and Twitter, on the latter of which he is known as @Iron_Intellect. John published a powerful piece in The New York Times, called “I Don’t Want to Be Inspiring,” which was about disability and the ways in which people will often refer to persons with disabilities as being “so inspiring!”
Eric and Anthony both had the chance to meet John at the 2018 gathering of the Public Philosophy Network in Boulder, Colorado this past February, where John gave a powerful paper about the profession of philosophy, called “The Disabled Can Speak: Socratic Midwifery as a Means of Resisting Epistemic Violence.” In addition to that well received paper, John has also written for volumes such as Dracula and Philosophy, The European Journal of Japanese Philosophy, Deadpool and Philosophy, Hippo Reads, and the Blog of the American Philosophical Association, where he wrote about Charlottesville.
Listen for our “You Tell Me!” questions and for some jokes in one of our concluding segments, called “Philosophunnies.” Reach out to us on Facebook @PhilosophyBakesBread and on Twitter @PhilosophyBB; email us at philosophybakesbread@gmail.com; or call and record a voicemail that we play on the show, at 859.257.1849. Philosophy Bakes Bread is a production of the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). Check us out online at PhilosophyBakesBread.com and check out SOPHIA at PhilosophersInAmerica.com.
Anthony Cashio, “Liberating the Liberal Arts: Encouraging Philosophical Engagement Outside of the Classroom,” on our 2018 SOPHIA panel at the Public Philosophy Network conference in Boulder, CO.
We are releasing this 69th episode of the Philosophy Bakes Bread radio show and podcast a little early, as there are a few spots left to join a philosophical canoe trip that Eric Thomas Weber and Anthony Cashio will be holding with Alejandro Strong of Apeiron Expeditions. We’ll be talking about John Lachs’s 1998 book, In Love with Life, so we invited John back on the show to talk about his book, and to give people a preview of what we’ll be talking about. John has written two new chapters for an extended edition of the book, which we ask him about in this episode. To learn more about the trip planned for July 29th through August 1st, visit the Trip Catalog on Apeiron Expeditions’ web site.
Dr. Lachs was our guest in Episode 5 of the show, back in February of 2017, when we asked him about his more recent book, Stoic Pragmatism. is the author of numerous books, and is Centennial Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA), of which Philosophy Bakes Bread is a production. In addition to talking with John about his book, we first ask him about SOPHIA and the history of the philosophical profession, which motivated the founding of the organization.
Listen for our “You Tell Me!” questions and for some jokes in one of our concluding segments, called “Philosophunnies.” Reach out to us on Facebook @PhilosophyBakesBread and on Twitter @PhilosophyBB; email us at philosophybakesbread@gmail.com; or call and record a voicemail that we play on the show, at 859.257.1849. Philosophy Bakes Bread is a production of the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). Check us out online at PhilosophyBakesBread.com and check out SOPHIA at PhilosophersInAmerica.com.
In this 65th episode of the Philosophy Bakes Bread radio show and podcast, Eric Thomas Weber and Anthony Cashio had the pleasure to talk with Dr. James South and Dr. Kimberly Engels about Westworld. We discuss topics including artificial intelligence and storytelling as well as the ethical and political questions that Westworld raises for us.
Kimberly and James are the editors of Westworld and Philosophy, recently published, coinciding with the release of season 2 of the show. Dr. Engels is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Molloy College, where she specializes in Biomedical Ethics and Continental Philosophy. She has a recent paper out in the journal Public Affairs Quarterly on “An Existential Analysis of ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws.”
Dr. South is Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean for the Faculty in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences at Marquette University, where he specializes in late-Medieval and Renaissance philosophy, ordinary language philosophy, and philosophy and popular culture. He has edited books like James Bond and Philosophy as well as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy.
Listen for our “You Tell Me!” questions and for some jokes in one of our concluding segments, called “Philosophunnies.” Reach out to us on Facebook @PhilosophyBakesBread and on Twitter @PhilosophyBB; email us at philosophybakesbread@gmail.com; or call and record a voicemail that we play on the show, at 859.257.1849. Philosophy Bakes Bread is a production of the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). Check us out online at PhilosophyBakesBread.com and check out SOPHIA at PhilosophersInAmerica.com.
The “Duck-Rabbit,” alluded to in this episode, refers to something that can be seen in different ways, when we shift our attention or thinking about the image or object.
You Tell Me!
For our future “You Tell Me!” segments, Kimberly posed the following question in this episode:
“How do the themes of Westworld relate to contemporary social movements?”
Let us know what you think! Via Twitter, Facebook, Email, or by commenting here below.
At the time of recording this episode, which was in February of 2018, Matthew was graduating student at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washing. He was Editor-in-Chief of TheMast in 2016 student ran media company out of Pacific Lutheran University. His work appears in College Media Review and PLU publications like The Matrix and Resolute.
Dr. Michael Rings teaches and does research at PLU in ethics, social and political philosophy, and aesthetics. Michael has published work in the philosophy of popular music, and on aesthetic cosmopolitanism. In his free time Michael plays and composes music, hikes around in the Washington wilderness, and collects records.
Our third guest was Dr. Sergia Hay, also a professor of Philosophy at PLU. She focuses on applied ethics and the history of philosophy. Sergia is a Kierkegaard scholar and is currently doing research on his views of language while taking into account influence on his work by Johann Hamann, a contemporary of Kant. She also serves as the Interim Director of the Wild Hope Center, a center for vocation at PLU.
Listen for our “You Tell Me!” questions and for some jokes in one of our concluding segments, called “Philosophunnies.” Reach out to us on Facebook @PhilosophyBakesBread and on Twitter @PhilosophyBB; email us at philosophybakesbread@gmail.com; or call and record a voicemail that we play on the show, at 859.257.1849. Philosophy Bakes Bread is a production of the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). Check us out online at PhilosophyBakesBread.com and check out SOPHIA at PhilosophersInAmerica.com.
Our facilitators for this meeting will be Dr. Andrea Christelle and Dr. Robin Weeks of Sedona Philosophy in Sedona, AZ.
We will hold the meeting via Zoom Video Conferencing. Here are the instructions on how to join the conversation:
